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Arc 4: Chapter 40 (end)

With so many zombies, this was the perfect chance to help Lu Ye advance. Lin Yuan thought to himself that as long as Lu Ye could control multiple T8 zombies, he could create a T9 zombie and then absorb its crystal nucleus and advance to a higher level. At the moment, Lu Ye appeared to control the T7s without a sweat, but Lin Yuan couldn’t help but worry. He repeatedly confirmed with Lu Ye that he would have no problem controlling a T8 zombie. Seeing his husband’s confidence, Lin Yuan mused to himself that Lu Ye’s mental power might even be as high as level nine. 

Out of the remaining lower leveled zombies, Lin Yuan killed all of the T5s, and the rest of the power users killed the T3s and T4s. 

Their group spent over half a month outside before returning to the base, successfully killing off all of the zombies in the city center. Chen Shen also advanced to the fifth level. 

With Lin Yuan and Lu Ye’s arrival, the base’s power regiment that had been on the verge of collapse could finally walk around the base with their heads held high. The backing of a level seven and level five power users was enough to instill fear and caution in the independent organizations. And now there were three more level 5 power users in the regiment.

People were naturally attracted to the strong. Some power users even chose to withdraw from their organizations and join the regiment.

Song Ting was unbelievably excited to hear that there were no more zombies in the city, and wanted to immediately relocate the entire base, of course, including all of the ordinary people. 

All of the power users that were on missions outside of the base were called to return, and after a month of cleaning up and tidying the city center, the city center was livable again. 

In this time, Lin Yuan successfully advanced to level six. While everyone was busy settling in the city, he pulled his husband and the 20 power users out to do missions again. This time, they ventured to Liu City, the next closest city.

They spent a month there, and Lu Ye raised a second T8 zombie. They had brought the T8 from Nan City to Liu City, and the two zombies fought and the winner swallowed the crystal nucleus of the other. However, this wasn’t enough energy for the T8 to advance.

Returning to the base, the regiment gained two more level five power users, which further consolidated their control over the base. Song Ting grasped the opportunity to enforce new rules, including that power users were not allowed to use their powers to bully or harm ordinary people. 

This time, Lin Yuan and Lu Ye left on their own, and traveled from Geng City to Huai City, creating two more T8s that were swallowed up by the T8 from Nan City. 

Finally, in Huai City, when the T8 finished absorbing the crystal nucleus, it burst out into roars, and its blood-red pupils whirled and the whites of its eyes blackened. As a T9 zombie, it had become free of Lu Ye’s control. Its eyes turned and fixated on Lu Ye’s figure.

Lu Ye met its gaze, his eyes even more gloomy and deep, exuding murderous intent like a beast eyeing its prey. He stepped forward, blocking Lin Yuan behind him.

Although Lin Yuan couldn’t help but be nervous, he firmly believed in Lu Ye. He held Lu Ye’s hand briefly and said softly: “I’ll wait for you to finish.”

This wait took three hours, and the sun indifferently sunk under the horizon. As the last rays of the evening were about to recede, Lu Ye returned to Lin Yuan. His clothes hung off his body in tatters, and there were two bright red slashes on his face and various parts of his body were covered in wounds. He held a bright blue crystal carefully in hands, as if holding his own heart, and presented it to Lin Yuan. 

“Sui Sui.”

Lin Yuan jumped up and wrapped his hands around Lu Ye’s neck and kissed him: “I don’t want it, it’s yours. Lu Ye, become the strongest!”

Lu Ye looked at the shining crystal nucleus and his liking for it immediately dropped many levels. Hmph, useless thing that can’t get Sui Sui’s attention. But he still obediently absorbed the energy from the crystal nucleus. 

The crystals of a higher level obviously contained more energy, but this made the process of absorbing the power more painful. This time, Lu Ye’s awakening took two full days. During his coma, he even vomited black blood. Unexpectedly, the blackening value decreased by 8%, leaving the last 9%.

Lin Yuan stayed by his side the entire time. The moment Lu Ye opened his eyes, Lin Yuan asked anxiously: “Husband, how are you feeling? Do you still feel pain anywhere?”

Lu Ye stared at him and blinked slowly. His usually bright lips were pale and colorless, and he said slowly: “Hus…husband…”

Lin Yuan was even more anxious: “I’m not the husband, no, no, Lu Ye, I’m your wife…”

“Wait…” Lin Yuan reacted and his eyes widened in surprise: “You just spoke?! Are you back to normal?”

He just noticed that Lu Ye’s eyes were no longer as blank as before. 

Lu Ye said slowly: “Are… you… okay?...”

Lin Yuan’s heartbeat suddenly raced. He had originally thought that Lu Ye would never recover, but now it seemed that Lu Ye's advanced power was helping him.

This was really an unexpected joyful matter, and Lin Yuan was so giddy that all of his tiredness was swept away. He quickly took out various things from the storage ring and taught Lu Ye what they were one by one. 

Lu Ye learned quickly and remembered everything even if just said once. When Lin Yuan heard that Lu Ye remembered everything, he jumped into Lu Ye’s embrace happily and rubbed against him, saying joyfully: “Husband, you are really really awesome. I, I like you so much…”

His voice was gradually tinged with sobs: “I love you so much… Lu Ye, I really really love you so much…”

⋅ ˚ ₊ ‧ ୨୧ ‧ ₊ ˚ ⋅

Afterwards, they cleaned up all of the zombies in Huai City and returned to Nan City. Holding Lu Ye’s hand, Lin Yuan led him to the regiment’s headquarters building. 

Just from walking through the base, Lin Yuan could tell that many changes had been made, and the scene even seemed similar to ordinary life before the apocalypse. Ordinary people were bustling about, plant powers worked in the greenhouse, water powers supplied clean sources of water, and fire powers and wind powers generated power and heat.

When Song Ting was notified that Lin Yuan and Lu Ye had returned, he immediately got up and waited outside of headquarters to receive them. 

Lin Yuan saw him and waved his hand in greeting. He pulled Lu Ye and said: “Husband, this is Deputy Leader Song.”

Song Ting tilted his head in confusion and didn’t know why Lin Yuan was introducing him all of sudden, when he saw Mr. Lu actually look at him and speak: “Deputy Leader Song.”

Was this the same person who only had Mr. Lin in his eyes before? Song Ting asked Lin Yuan hopefully: “The regiment leader is back to normal?”

Lin Yuan smiled, showing two deep crescent dimples: “His power advanced even further and now he is recovering. He might recover completely very soon!”

Advanced even further! This point shocked Song Ting the most. He asked curiously: “Is the regiment leader an eighth-level power user?”

Lin Yuan felt that there was no need to hide anymore, and he said the truth honestly: “Lu Ye is actually a dual power user, in addition to his plant power, he also has a mental power. His plant power reached level eight a few months ago, and his mental power is now level ten.”

This breaking news swept across the base faster than a wildfire. When Meng Mingqian’s team knew of it, their faces turned extremely ugly.

They still remembered how they mistreated and targeted Lu Ye. A few months ago, even if Lu Ye was a level seven power user, they were not afraid of being retaliated against, after all, he was just a fool. But hearing that Lu Ye was turning back to normal and also a level 10 power user, it was as if they had all returned to before the apocalypse, when Lu Ye was the unreachable god of Ning University and they were just insects underneath his feet. 

Lin Yuan spent a month resting in the base, helping Lu Ye to gradually recover his memories. Lu Ye was now like a child who could say simple sentences. At this point, Lin Yuan decided to venture out again, taking two level five power users with him to take Lu Ye back to Ning City, where Lu Ye had spent most of his life. 

Even after more than a year, Ning City seemed no different from how they left it. It was the same city of death and despair. Lin Yuan’s plan was to clean up all of the zombies and then bring Lu Ye to Ning University and the apartment they used to live in. 

The original population of Ning City was close to 10 million inhabitants, which made the cleaning task particularly laborious, taking over two months. Luckily, the highest level zombie in the city was a T6, which was a piece of cake to take care of. 

During this period, Lin Yuan advanced again, with one level seven power and one level six. Now his wolf form was over six meters tall, like a prehistoric beast. 

The rest of the crystals were handed over to the two other power users, and they went to a random building to absorb them, while Lin Yuan took Lu Ye to wander around Ning City. 

They passed through Ning University, the apartment they had lived in together, long streets and alleys, parks and bridges, and past local shops and high-rise buildings. 

As Lin Yuan spoke, Lu Ye listened closely. He was relearning the world around him through Lin Yuan’s eyes, Lin Yuan’s ears, and Lin Yuan’s voice. 

One morning, Lin Yuan had a sudden idea to go to the outskirts and climb a mountain. He chose a mountain called Bright Mountain, which was known for its extreme weather. Because of the harsh conditions, there weren’t any mutant animals or plants, in fact, most of the life on the mountain was withered and dead. 

After an hour of climbing, they arrived at the peak and could see the entire city below. From this perspective, there were no zombies, no ruin, as if Ning City was still that prosperous modern city.

Lin Yuan held Lu Ye’s hand and pointed to Ning City and asked: “Husband, do you remember that place?”

But Lu Ye didn’t look in that direction at all. Instead, his head turned left and right, as if he was searching for something, and his eyebrows furrowed tightly. 

Lu Ye had never let go of Lin Yuan easily, but this time, the young man let go and turned around and walked away. 

Lin Yuan was stunned and chased after Lu Ye and quietly followed him to walk for ten minutes. Lu Ye suddenly stopped and squatted down, staring at the ground.

   【Di! Congrats host, the villain’s blackening value has decreased to 5%.】

   【Di! Congrats host, the villain’s blackening value has decreased to 3%.】

   【Di! Congrats host, the villain’s blackening value has decreased to 0% and has successfully been cleared. Congrats on completing the task.】

The cold mechanical voice disappeared, and Lin Yuan couldn’t believe his ears. 

“How is this possible?...”

While he was in daze for a few seconds, Lu Ye had gotten up and held something in his hand, a flower with eight purple petals and its roots hanging pitifully from the end of the stem.

The delicate petals and stem were very fragile, as if a mere breeze could scatter them, or a single drop of rain could break it. It was unimaginable how this flower grew in this desolate, withered mountainーit was the lone spark of life persisting amidst the decay.

Lin Yuan had already seen many worlds and many many lives, but this was the first time life brought tears to his eyes. 

It was just a flower, but it was a flower that grew after the end of the world. 

Lu Ye held this wildflower in front of Lin Yuan and gently brushed its petals with his fingertips. His eyes glimmered like stars as he looked at Lin Yuan, piercing through the darkness. He said slowly but happily: “Sui Sui… flower… give… like…”

Lin Yuan was completely brought to tears. He cried silently as he looked between Lu Ye and the beautiful flower in his hand. 

In this decayed and darkened world, life endured endless nights steeped in bloodshed, until the first flower had finally bloomed. Along with this flower, his Lu Ye had emerged from the sea of darkness and madness, returning to the land of his birth.

Ning City was coming back to life.

Finally, the world was awakened once more.

t/n awwww, so touching ૮꒰っ˕‹̥̥̥ ꒱ა sad that we can't see Lin Yuan and Lu Ye live happily ever after T^T

t/n see everyone in the next cultivation world ~

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